Watts In Your Kitchen?
Watts in your kitchen?
Do you remember the last time you felt that the Federal Government was on your side? I know; it's been a while. One function of government, to protect consumers from fraudulent claims by manufacturers, may be making a comeback.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which develops product testing for the Energy Star program, recently reached an agreement with LG, one of the world's largest manufacturer's of appliances and consumer electronics, over some LG refrigerators that failed to live up to the Energy Star label.
DOE allows manufacturers to test their own products. Some LG refrigerators were tested with their icemakers turned off and earned the Energy Star label, meaning that they are among the most energy efficient refrigerators on the market. But consumers don't generally turn their icemakers off. The LG refrigerators in question, with French doors and through-the-wall ice and water dispensers, can use up to twice as much energy than is reported on the refrigerator labels.
If you own one of the notorious refrigerators–go to the LG special web site to find out–then LG will send someone out to make some modifications, and hand you a check to cover all the hidden energy charges for the life of the refrigerator. Home Energy's Senior Executive Editor Alan Meier estimates that LG will be spending around $150 million on home visits and energy rebates.
Is LG the only manufacturer to circumvent performance standards? Probably not, so we are watching the news for more DOE settlements.
Do you know how to spot hidden energy guzzlers in your house? If you get your gas and/or electricity from PG&E, you can compare your home energy use over time and spot those peaks and valleys that indicate something is wrong, or something is right. If your electric bills shoot up soon after buying a new refrigerator, TV, or other appliance, and it isn't due to a change in the weather, you can easily spot the culprit.
If you have an online account, login, click on the "Billing" link, and then click on "Usage History". What's really cool, at least for energy geeks like me, is that you can pull up graphs showing two years of electricity use, gas use, and electricity and gas charges. And you can pull up a graph that superimposes your gas and electricity use with a graph of "heating degree-days" and "cooling degree-days". The degree-days give you a snapshot of the load on your heating and air conditioning systems–more on that later.
1 Comment
I am a teacher who is currently using the PEAK energy curriculum in my classroom and we are just about to learn about the Energy Star labels and how consumers can use this system to make better purchases to help lower their families' energy usage. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the LG settlement and any future settlements. I'll be including this info when we discuss how we can "shrink" our energy use and how we need to keep vigilant and educated about these issues.
On a more personal note, I have a feeling my refrigerator is on its last legs and we'll be shopping for one soon. We have purchased an LG energy star washer and dryer recently and I'll be thinking twice about buying another LG appliance.